Eleven-year-old Janek is raised under difficult conditions by his single mother in Frankfurt on the Oder. His mother loves him deeply, yet her alcohol addiction and her frequently changing boyfriends are not the ideal preconditions for rearing a child. Repeatedly Janek experiences clients visiting their home and treating him without the slightest respect. But Janek doesn't resign. Despite such unfavorable circumstances he doesn't forsake his alert and cheeky character. He struggles through his world using his vivid imagination, often accompanied by Wolf-Dieter, an exotic fish he carries along in an old pickle jar. After an involuntary involvement with drugs the fish faces substantial orientation problems and starts swimming backwards. Or is this just a figment of Janek's imagination ...?
